Anthony Gallo Reference 3

[goodman]

Has anyone checked out the Anthony Gallo Reference 3 yet? It is a 35 inch tall floor-stander. Except for the base, there is no wood. It has a piezzo-electric tweeter and twin spherical mid-range drivers. It has a ten-inch woofer that can be bi-amped. It is $2,600.00 and is supposed to be a break-through speaker in that price range. For an additional $900.00, there is an optional amplifier for bi-amping the woofer. It is wild-looking, but more sedate in appearance with it's cover on. I was surprised to find that there is a dealer in my area. I'm gonna have a listen soon.

 

[Unregistered]

Gallo Ref 3

Have a listen. I was amazed. I didn't go in there looking for speakers. He asked me if I had ever heard these, which I hadn't even heard of, much less heard.

It's a very, very interesting almost three dimensional soundstage. Really interesting.

I would like to go back and listen more, but I am worried that I will have no self control and end up leaving there with a set and the second amp, when there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Totem Winds I've got now!

But do go listen. They're pretty neat.

 

[goodman]

Well, Saturday, I did go give a listen. I brought some of my CDs and SACDs. I tried to compare them with my Axiom M60s at home. On my familiar music, I thought the Gallos imaged very well. It was like you couldn't tell where the sound was coming from. On "Trumpet Spectacular" (Doc Severinson with the CSO), I thought the middle and upper range was very clear and airy). I thought the bass was satisfactory and comparable to the M60s, even though the sales manager said they had a bass "suckout" where I was sitting in the store. I wondered how the speakers would sound in my home, so I asked if I could take them out overnight. The manager said I could if I left a deposit equal to the selling price of the speakers. One swipe of the plastic later, I left with one demo in the trunk and one on the floor in the rear seating area of my car. I snugged it in with the back of the front passenger seat.
When I got them home, I asked my wife to listen with me. She said she liked their appearance. So far so good. Then, I played my M60s in stereo, without the sub, the center or the surrounds. Then, I hooked up the Reference 3s. The differences were not dramatic. The M60s are darn good, but the Gallo Ref 3s imaged even better than the Axioms and sounded really airy. The wife, who has better, younger and prettier ears, said the Refs sounded "fuller", although I had difficulty getting her to elaborate on what she meant by "fuller".
This morning, I brought the demos back to the store. They gave me back my deposit on the demos and I gave them a deposit on a cherry/stainless pair they are expecting in a few days. I want the optional amplifier, but it is apparently not currently available due to some early examples arriving damaged in shipping (sounds like a packaging problem). If anyone would like to buy a pair of M60s in perfect condition with all of the original double-box packaging, send me an e-mail.

 

[Bicster]

Uh

M60's vs Ref 3's?

 

[Unregistered]

I listened to the Refs at CES last year, they are not only excellent sounding for the price they were one of the more accurate sounding speakers I heard at any price. The only room (at Alexis Park) that I liked better was the multi-channel PS audio demo using prototype amplification and an unknown speaker brand.

 

[WmAx]

Please describe the environment at home the Gallos are being used. Dimensins, placments(to nearest foot), sitting position from speakers, objects near walls(which walls? acoustic treatments? objects near side/back walls acting as diffusors?), etc..

-Chris

Well, Saturday, I did go give a listen. I brought some of my CDs and SACDs. I tried to compare them with my Axiom M60s at home. On my familiar music, I thought the Gallos imaged very well. It was like you couldn't tell where the sound was coming from. On "Trumpet Spectacular" (Doc Severinson with the CSO), I thought the middle and upper range was very clear and airy). I thought the bass was satisfactory and comparable to the M60s, even though the sales manager said they had a bass "suckout" where I was sitting in the store. I wondered how the speakers would sound in my home, so I asked if I could take them out overnight. The manager said I could if I left a deposit equal to the selling price of the speakers. One swipe of the plastic later, I left with one demo in the trunk and one on the floor in the rear seating area of my car. I snugged it in with the back of the front passenger seat.
When I got them home, I asked my wife to listen with me. She said she liked their appearance. So far so good. Then, I played my M60s in stereo, without the sub, the center or the surrounds. Then, I hooked up the Reference 3s. The differences were not dramatic. The M60s are darn good, but the Gallo Ref 3s imaged even better than the Axioms and sounded really airy. The wife, who has better, younger and prettier ears, said the Refs sounded "fuller", although I had difficulty getting her to elaborate on what she meant by "fuller".
This morning, I brought the demos back to the store. They gave me back my deposit on the demos and I gave them a deposit on a cherry/stainless pair they are expecting in a few days. I want the optional amplifier, but it is apparently not currently available due to some early examples arriving damaged in shipping (sounds like a packaging problem). If anyone would like to buy a pair of M60s in perfect condition with all of the original double-box packaging, send me an e-mail.

 

[goodman]

It is a family room that is 13 x 20 x 8. It opens to a kitchen 12 x 28 x 8 that is one step up. The speakers are on the short wall that is covered in brick. The side walls are dry-wall covered with wooden paneling covered with several coats of paint. The ceiling is painted dry-wall. The floor is padded and carpeted. The left side wall has a sliding glass door that is covered with a vertical blind. The right side wall has three large framed movie posters covered with non-glare material. The front l & r speakers sit 3 feet from the front wall and two feet from the side walls. The center speaker sits slightly behind the l & r. The best seats are 10' away from the front speakers. When I had the Ref 3s, I put them in the same position as my current M60s. They did not seem to be fussy with placement. Although there is probably some bass bloat in the room, overall I think the acousitics are quite good.

 

[goodman]

And to complete the answer to your question, there are two equipment cabinets at either end of the brick wall, an 8' wide video sreen on the ceiling in front of the front wall that is sometimes rolled up, sometimes rolled down, a projector mounted on the ceiling about 16' from the front wall, a love seat under the movie posters with tables and lamps at either end, another love seat at the rear of the room, a hutch on the left side wall next to the sliding door, and two leather chairs (the "best" seats that are 10' from the front speakers). Add some bodies and there's lots of absorption and diffusion going on.

 

[plhart]

Well thought out room set-up complements speakers!

The sphere has been known as the almost perfect speaker cabinet configuration since Harry Olsen did his famous cabinet shape tests in the forties and fifties. A sphere has the potential capability of delivering a virtually diffractionless on-axis frequency response. Plus, if that frequency response is relatively flat then the resulting polar response will be an almost perfect mirror image with the high frequencies but diminishing in a linear fashion as frequency increases and as the angle off-axis also increases.

Any resulting axial reflections you may receive at the listening positions will be less noticeable because, with the excellent linear polar response, the reflections will be time delayed (smeared) but received broadband, (across a very wide range) as a mirror image of the direct response. And once you can take a time delayed "distortion" and spread it out broadband your brain will "compensate" (for the time smear) more easily.

Note that what this system is doing is taking the midrange much, much lower than a typical 3-way system does. This is why you can achieve such a linear polar response. In essence, you're almost listening to an idealized "point source" most of the time. (The tweeter I believe is also quite a nice device but the real trick is that it's crossed way above the critical midband frequencies.)

Finally, it sounds like your set-up is also well done! I like the bookshelves in the back to get rid of those slap echoes....

 

[WmAx]

Plus, if that frequency response is relatively flat then the resulting polar response will be an almost perfect mirror image with the high frequencies but diminishing in a linear fashion as frequency increases and as the angle off-axis also increases.

With that novel cylindrical tweeter, summed polar response should be relatively linear at 90 degrees throughout the speaker system's entire midrange-treble bandwidth.... which leads me too....

Any resulting axial reflections you may receive at the listening positions will be less noticeable because, with the excellent linear polar response, the reflections will be time delayed (smeared) but received broadband, (across a very wide range) as a mirror image of the direct response. And once you can take a time delayed "distortion" and spread it out broadband your brain will "compensate" (for the time smear) more easily.

With a loudspeaker system that has such extraordinary polar response such at the Ref 3, I highly prefer unobstructed 1st side reflections. Actually, I prefer an even more linear horizontal response(omnipolar) also incorporating rear broadband reflections. Of course, the Ref 3 is not omnipolar into the treble band -- I just wanted to add that detail into my reply for perspetive. I prefer the psychoacoustic trickery a suitably delayed broadband horizontal axial reflection creates upon recordings of large reverberant spaces. IMO, that is one of the biggest advantages of such a design.

-Chris

 

[WmAx]

And to complete the answer to your question, there are two equipment cabinets at either end of the brick wall, an 8' wide video sreen on the ceiling in front of the front wall that is sometimes rolled up, sometimes rolled down, a projector mounted on the ceiling about 16' from the front wall, a love seat under the movie posters with tables and lamps at either end, another love seat at the rear of the room, a hutch on the left side wall next to the sliding door, and two leather chairs (the "best" seats that are 10' from the front speakers). Add some bodies and there's lots of absorption and diffusion going on.

While I'm not entirely sure -- it sounds like you have tables, lamps, vertical blinds and possibly some chairs diffusing side reflections. With the Ref 3, you should find that reducing/removing this diffusion of the 1st side reflections to be beneficial(as long as reflected/direct sound exceeds approx. 5ms difference) -- the opposite of what is common with some speakers. Experiment. If you listen to alot of music made in large acoustic venues(classical, opera, etc.) -- you should find this effect extermely pleasing. Be certain that the both sides are somewhat symmetrical in reflective behaviour.

-Chris

 

[goodman]

My Ref3s are in. I'm going to pick them up now.

 

[goodman]

I got the new Ref3s home, removed them from the boxes, screwed on the cones, put them in place, plugged 'em in. They have cherry bases and stainless steel enclosures. My first selection was "Johnny Cash Sings His Best" on CD, one of my favorites from my perennially favorite singer. At first, the bass was thumpy, until I realized that my sub was on. I cut back on sub level and lowered the pass band as far as it would go, which was much better, and then I cut the sub out completely, because, after all, I wanted to hear the Ref3s. Although, they are supposed to need 100 hours of break-in, I thought they sounded very natural and the imaging was excellent, as expected. Next, I put on my newest favorite CD, "Trumpet Spectacular", featuring Doc Severinson with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Oh, wow. That is beautiful. I like it my car and with the Axioms, but this was even better. I finished off with "Rossini Overtures" on SACD, but it was late and past time for bed. I left the rig on, feeding the Refs with FM. So far, I would say, "I wish I had the room for five of them", so I could hear multi-channel music as it is intended to be heard.